In the week ending May 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial
claims was 460,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised
figure of 474,000. The 4-week moving average was 456,500, an increase of 2,250
from the previous week's revised average of 454,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent
for the week ending May 15, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of
3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during
the week ending May 15 was 4,607,000, a decrease of 49,000 from the preceding
week's revised level of 4,656,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,637,250,
a decrease of 11,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,648,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment,
which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.134 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted,
totaled 404,325 in the week ending May 22, a decrease of 5,765 from the previous
week. There were 538,311 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the
week ending May 15, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number
for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,381,421, a decrease
of 88,300 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.6 percent
and the volume was 6,153,284.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,481 in the week ending May 15, an increase of 163 from the prior week. There were 2,369 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 120 from the preceding week.

There were 17,937 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 8, an increase of 577 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,370, an increase of 1,365 from the prior week.

States reported 5,059,843 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending May 8, a decrease of 41,403 from the prior week. There were 2,185,863 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 15 were in Tennessee (+3,041), Missouri (+2,369), Mississippi (+1,697), Illinois (+1,154), and Arkansas (+851), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,161), Michigan (-2,133), Washington (-1,968), Florida (-1,480), and Oregon (-1,200).

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